Cody McKenzie Now Meets Marcus LeVesseur at UFC on Fuel TV 3

UFC newcomer was unbeaten college wrestler

Cody McKenzie will try to snap a two-fight losing skid next month against a UFC newcomer with a remarkable wrestling pedigree.

With Aaron Riley out with an injury, McKenzie now will face UFC newcomer Marcus LeVesseur at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. McKenzie on Tuesday announced the new fight on his Twitter account. The UFC has not yet announced the new fight. UFC on Fuel TV 3 takes place May 15 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

McKenzie (12-2, 1-2 UFC) was booked for a January fight against Michael Johnson at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis in Chicago, but had to pull out of the fight with an injury. He last saw action in September at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger in New Orleans, where he suffered a second-round rear naked choke loss to Vagner Rocha. That loss came on the heels of a January rear naked choke loss to Yves Edwards at the UFC Fight for the Troops 2 show – his first career setback.

McKenzie, a product of Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” amazingly started his career with 12 straight submission wins – 10 by a modified guillotine choke he calls the “McKenzietine.” His TUF 12 run ended with a TKO loss to Nam Phan in the quarterfinals – though that doesn’t count as an official loss on his record. But before that, he won two fights in the house with a pair of McKenzietine chokes, and his win over Aaron Wilkinson at the TUF 12 Finale was also with the special guillotine.

LeVesseur (21-5) signs with the UFC for a short-notice debut riding a three-fight winning streak. His last loss came in November 2010 to recent hopeful for “The Ultimate Fighter LIVE” Dakota Cochrane. LeVesseur’s wrestling background is one of the best in history. He was a four-time state champion in Minnesota, and his high school career includes a win over Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. After finishing his prep career with 141 straight wins and a 212-17 record, LeVesseur became a four-time NCAA Division III national champion for Augsburg College, finishing his collegiate career 155-0, giving him 296 consecutive victories.

LeVesseur, whose first MMA bout came in 2003, started his cage career 7-0 and has enjoyed success in regional shows – though he hasn’t put together a streak longer than four fights since his 7-0 start. Of his 21 wins, 17 have come by stoppage.

UFC on Fuel TV 3 features a main event featherweight contenders bout between “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, and Dustin Poirier. Also on the card, recent lightweight contender Donald Cerrone looks to bounce back from a loss to Nate Diaz when he meets Jeremy Stephens. And TUF winner Amir Sadollah meets Jorge Lopez at welterweight.

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